Telecommunications technicians, such as so-called “Installation and Maintenance” (I&M) technicians, may visit customer sites to install new equipment, set up new services, or to service existing equipment or services. Frequently, I&M technicians need certain information stored on back-end legacy systems to perform a job order. The legacy systems may include dispatch, facilities, and billing systems. The legacy systems may store information such as job assignment, facility assignment, network testing functions, maintenance processes, and customer-specific information.
A typical telephone company, for example, can have a number of such back-end legacy systems that I&M technicians may need to access to perform job orders. These legacy systems can include, for example, a loop facility assignment control system, a loop maintenance operations system, a computer system for main frame operations, a mechanized loop testing system, a secure network element contract server, a mechanized time reporting system, and a work activity statistical sampling plan system. Other back-end legacy and non-legacy systems may exist.
According to a previous approach, technicians could access some information from certain legacy systems using a gateway. For example, BellSouth's I&M technicians use the BellSouth Craft Access System (CAS) gateway. However, access using the gateway had significant limitations. The access was dial-up, meaning that the technician often had to tie up a customer's phone line. Additionally, logging-in and accessing data using CAS was a slow, laborious process. For example, CAS access was sometimes provided via Computer Access Terminals (CATs) using a slow 1.2 kbps connection. Because of the drawbacks of CAS, such as its slow speed, the provision of services by I&M technicians was suboptimal because of delays and impediments to getting the information necessary to complete a job order. In addition, CAS was very difficult to improve. The platform did not lend itself to creating new capabilities due to limited memory and low processor speed.
Moreover, I&M technicians often have poor or suboptimal keyboard skills. Technicians seeking information from legacy system interfaces such as CAS sometimes make mistakes in entering their requests into a computer keyboard. These mistakes can generate user errors that may result in the retrieval of incorrect information or that may result in the delayed retrieval of the correct information. Such user errors can increase the amount of time it takes I&M technicians to complete their job orders. This can increase costs and lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Furthermore, using a CAT terminal or a portable personal computer (PC) to access legacy systems can be very inconvenient to I&M technicians working in the field. A technician making a site visit already has to carry tools, supplies and other equipment to complete many job orders. Carrying an additional five to ten pounds can be very burdensome.